WelcomeLiving Of course, having written about the wonderful sunshine last week it was then chilly and wet! Never mind, it meant that there was perfectly cooler weather for the Year 10 students to head out on their training expeditions for the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Thanks to Mr Taylor and Mrs Madden for organising and to Mr Mercer, Mr Kyle, Mr Kennedy and Mr Dobson for supporting such an important part of our extra-curricular offer for our students. Last week we also had Year 13 off-site taking part in an Escape Room activity with a focus on developing the resilience needed for the coming exams. What a great way to both chill out and gear up – with thanks to Ms Carrera and Ms León for organising and leading. Meanwhile back at school the secondary students were busy celebrating International Day with a day packed full of Model United Nations (MUN) activity and great food from around the world shared by parents and staff. Thank you everyone Parent survey. As promised, I want to continue to share with you some of the outcomes from the parent survey. We have been starting with the celebration of what you all think we do so well, and I want to continue with that theme this week. When asked what the main reasons were for choosing BSQ as your school, the top two answers were the personalised approach to the children and the quality of education. 93% are satisfied or very satisfied with the teaching overall, 88% with the care for the children and 92% with the leadership and management. Of course, I am delighted with these answers because offering an excellent education in a community school that cares for everyone is exactly what we set out to do. By hiring and developing excellent teachers; by creating a curriculum that enables students to learn, explore, question and think; by creating a deep understanding of how children learn and make progress we are able to secure excellent outcomes for the students that will support them to grow – as learners and as human beings. Finally, for this newsletter, I was also very pleased that, despite some of the remaining challenges on campus, only 29% were dissatisfied with the general facilities. Whilst this is still something we will keep as a priority moving forward, this is much lower than last year which suggests that the changes we have made have been positive. Just a quick reminder to send us any achievements – sport, music, robotics, drama etc – that you and your children would like to celebrate. We love to see them and like to share the exciting news on our Facebook page. Learning It is not only the students at BSQ who enjoy learning – we also take time to make sure that we keep learning as teachers too. So, on Monday February 4th at 4pm, four of our teachers led workshops on aspects of the profession that they are experts in. Mr Dobson led a session that shared ideas about how to be efficient – both inside and outside of the classroom. Mr Wild led a session that shared information about Theory of Knowledge in the IB programme. Ms Miranda led a session about how to use both English and Spanish in the classroom to support learning. Finally, Mr Madden led a session about the importance of feedback and the impact it has on student learning. All the workshops were full of teachers and assistants and everybody learnt something new to add to their daily work. Huge thanks to the staff who took the time to prepare and deliver the workshops. From the Staff and Students Continuing with our teachers and their stories about learning in the classroom this term. This week we hear from Ms. Montenegro in Secondary and from Ms Park and the Y2 students in Primary. Ms Montenegro - Secondary Sociales Teacher Every time people ask me what children and young people learn in Social Studies, I feel very proud to respond that they learn about their countries, their history, their traditions and customs relating some Humanities content or related subjects to assess their roots, to be critical about the reality in which we live and, above all, to acquire a general culture that comes from home, but it is further edified and refined at school. Therefore, during these months, we have learnt in KS3 about how our grandparents and our parents lived in the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s? How has the economy, politics and society changed over these years? What have we inherited from processes such as female right to vote and the period between wars, "May 68", the agrarian reform and the Cuban Revolution? We even had a Historical Chocolatada with the director of the Ecuadorian movie Monos con Gallinas where we had a lot of fun. Additionally, in KS4, we have been working in crucial topics for our preparation towards the future national exam Ser Bachiller such as the Colony, the Independence and the Republic of Ecuador. We also visited the Historical Centre with the cultural group Mediarte, where we learnt about the importance of Quito and cocoa during the Nueva Granada Viceroyalty and Lima in the colonial economy. For this effect, we use Cuestionarix platform, where students will have 60 mini-simulators, recorded lessons with different exercises and 3 simulators to practice, so they will be ready for the national exam Ser Bachiller. CAS CAS is an important component of the BI where the students leave a moment the academic part to launch themselves to conquer their dreams and ideas. This year a common dream of Year 12, has been to work for the benefit of people who need the most, like the victims of the Earthquake of Esmeraldas 2016 and Chillanes recently. As well as, the Secoyas, an indigenous group of the Amazon that lacks schools or health centres nearby. For this reason, a group has planned to build at least 5 houses in Esmeraldas that cost $ 2,600 each and volunteer in the reconstruction of the Rumipamba in Chillanes, and a second group has planned to build classrooms, health centres and train the Secoya teachers, so that future generations have a better tomorrow. However, these dreams require a lot of effort, hard work and commitment, and they fully trust the BSQ community supports them, helps promoting them and keeps the interest. We hope you will join these dreams and contact them to the following email address [email protected] any donation or suggestion is more than welcome. Ms. Montenegro - CAS Coordinator Ms. Park – Year 2 Teacher This term in topic, our focus has been on answering the question 'How have individuals influenced the world'. Within this, we have been learning about Christopher Columbus and the impact his discoveries have had. We made a timeline of his life and discussed the impacts of his influence. We also learnt how to effectively express our view points. We also spent some time sketching portraits of Columbus using various sketching techniques. Dates for your Diary February 11th - KS 1 Assembly, parents invited at 1pm February 13th - Secondary reward trip February 13th - Year 3B share their learning to their parents at 9:30am. February 14th - Valentine´s Day Dress Up and Cake Sale February 15th and 16th - Women and Leadership: Enabling Voices Conference at Cotopaxi February 22nd. - Healthy Eating with Michelle O.Fried March 4th - Carnival holiday week Emma Newman Principal Being BSQ – Primary Update On Saturday the Primary students enjoyed their annual Sports Day, with a range of events and activities aimed to both demonstrate their skills and also promote physical activity in all our students. We all know that regular physical activity is good for us, but often do not make it a priority in our busy lives. However, new studies suggest that we do not need to spend hours in the gym doing rigorous activity to be physically active. Both adults and children can enjoy a variety of benefits by performing everyday activities in the home. Every time you and your child throw a ball, swim a lap, climb a flight of stairs, walk to the store or carry packages, your health and fitness levels are improving. The earlier a child is encouraged to enjoy and participate in regular physical activity, the more they will reduce the risk of numerous illnesses. Here are some of the benefits that physical activity offers your child: 1. It strengthens the heart. The heart is a muscle. Like other muscles, its performance improves when it is regularly challenged by exercise. The heart responds to exercise by becoming stronger and more efficient. Strengthening the heart muscle can help ward off heart disease - the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - even in early childhood. 2. It strengthens the lungs. Working hard increases lung capacity and their efficiency in moving air in and out of the body. As a result, more oxygen is drawn into the body and more carbon dioxide and other waste gases are expelled. Regular exercise helps prevent the decline in oxygen intake that occurs naturally with age or as a result of inactivity. 3. It strengthens bones. Just as muscles grow stronger when physically stressed, bones also respond by getting stronger. Exercise increases bone density, which helps prevent osteoporosis, a condition in which bones lose density, weaken, and become porous and fragile. 4. It improves energy levels. Regular exercise often makes people feel more energetic, allows them to be more active and reduces the likelihood that they will tire during the day. 5. It enhances emotional well-being. Most people report that they feel calm and have a sense of well-being after they exercise. On Thursday this week we have the Valentine’s Day Dress Up Day and Cake Sale, organised by Secondary students: more details to follow later this week. Have a great week! Star of the week Marcus Madden Head of Primary Being BSQ – Secondary Update International Day On Tuesday 5th February we held an International Day in Secondary. Students were divided into mixed-age groups, and each group was assigned a different country. They then research their countries, and a range of pressing global issues, ahead of producing displays, and taking part in a school-wide Model United Nations conference. The conference was a huge success. Organised by Mr John Ashfield, and run by the BSQ MUN team, the students engaged in focused debates on topics as diverse as Syrian refugees, the role of women in STEM careers and education, and the possibility of a zombie apocalypse. It was a fantastic day, with students and staff alike engaged in high level learning and problem solving, displaying excellent public speaking and interpersonal skills, and truly enthusiastic to be involved. Thank you to everybody involved, not least the parents who laid on the most delicious feast of international food at break time. Reward Trip On Wednesday of this week, all students who have received an award this past quimestre - be it for academic excellence, hard work, representation of our BSQ values, or the accumulation of House points, are invited to join the frist of our two Reward Trips of the year. The students will be spending the morning at Paseo San Francisco, where we have booked private screenings of two age-appropriate movies. It is sure to be an enjoyable morning, has been well-earned by those attending, and hopefully even more students will be able to join us when we go again in June. Jim Wild Head of Secondary From the BSQ Counselling Team This week our school counsellor, Andrea Carrera, gives us some steps and tips to solve problems with children.
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May 2024
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